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Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence vs Varonis Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 7, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender Threat I...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (10th), Threat Intelligence Platforms (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (15th)
Varonis Platform
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (20th), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (9th), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (6th), Data Governance (4th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (5th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (3rd), Compliance Management (7th), Ransomware Protection (10th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Security Software solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is designed for Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) and holds a mindshare of 2.1%, up 1.3% compared to last year.
Varonis Platform, on the other hand, focuses on Data Loss Prevention (DLP), holds 5.9% mindshare, up 4.1% since last year.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence2.1%
Palo Alto Networks WildFire10.7%
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint8.9%
Other78.3%
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Varonis Platform5.9%
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention13.0%
Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention9.0%
Other72.1%
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
 

Featured Reviews

TapabrataSamanta - PeerSpot reviewer
A cost-effective solution for monitoring and security but lacks supports for non-Microsoft products
There are weaknesses, and Microsoft is working on addressing them. Over the past three to four years, the ATP and other components have improved significantly, and the integration has also advanced. We are using third-party services. While we have Microsoft Threat Intelligence, which leverages Microsoft's facilities, we also utilize additional third-party threat intelligence. As of today, we don't completely rely on Microsoft for certain regions. This is an area where Microsoft needs to improve. Consequently, we use Anomali, a third-party threat intelligence provider. We integrate our product's intelligence with Anomali, from which we obtain threat insights. Microsoft products offer significant advantages, especially in the realm of threat intelligence. It works very well with Microsoft products. However, you might need additional services if you have non-Microsoft products in your environment. For instance, if you use Apple or Linux, Microsoft's solutions alone might not be sufficient. If they can work more effectively, especially with zero-day attack speed and other sophisticated threats, it will help us provide our customers with timely newsletters about new attacks.
Frederic  Delos - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers the ability to identify sensitive areas, allowing you to drill down into the sensitive data
The most effective feature for me is its ability to identify sensitive areas, allowing you to drill down into the sensitive data, provided you have access, to determine whether it's a false positive or a true positive. That's the best thing for me, out of all of it. It's got everything, like other ones, but I like to be able to look at something if I'm doing forensics on the alert and say, "Okay, do I really need to do something with this?" For example, we don't want sensitive data in our OneDrive. So it identifies the sensitive data that's possibly in the OneDrive. And what I can do is look at it and identify whether it's actually sensitive data in Datalert or whether it looks like sensitive data, but I know it's a false positive. If it is a false positive, I can basically say ignore this pattern based on X, Y, and Z, you know, whether it's Redjax or keyword proximity. So I like that. With other tools, I gotta go through a whole process because it's a little bit more complex. Here, I can tag it and bag it in one shot. And the next good time I scan, it slips over it. So it helps in that.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I value how Threat Intelligence integrates with the different platforms in Microsoft."
"They have a very transparent roadmap for the product."
"Microsoft's integration into the security stack works quite well."
"The most valuable aspects are its integration capabilities with other Microsoft products like Intune, Office 365, and Azure cloud applications."
"The tool is managed from the cloud, because of which the maintenance is very low."
"The product is useful when the end user downloads malware files."
"Offers easy integration with a cloud-based infrastructure"
"The product is stable."
"The telemetry to capture everything and the reports are very easy to configure without having a developer degree."
"The solution ensures that users have not accidentally shared sensitive information with the wrong people or too many people."
"The solution's classification engine is highly configurable and efficient."
"It can easily identify unusual behavior or access patterns that may pose a potential threat, while operating as a unified reporting system."
"I also appreciate the reporting feature, which allows for the extraction of various reports based on specific needs. These reports can be used for audit purposes, such as tracking changes in file locations or deletions."
"On the Varonis side, technical support is phenomenal. Their ability to explain is very good, and they seem to be very knowledgeable. When I get an alert that doesn't quite make sense, they dive in there and kind of take me through it. That's very useful and very good. There are some false alerts, but it is better to have a false alert than no alert at all."
"The analytics would have to be our most valuable feature."
"The solution has significantly improved data security and compliance posture by allowing us to track and monitor activities. We can see who accesses data and when files are created and understand what's happening in our environment."
 

Cons

"Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is evolving and needs to fix and enhance numerous issues like stability and licensing. The continuous rebranding and licensing changes are confusing."
"A stable licensing model is absent"
"Some of the customization features could be improved by providing a portion of it as open source."
"It would be beneficial to enhance the pricing structure and make it more affordable."
"I would like for there to be extra confirmation that there aren't viruses. Even if the virus detection software is always running there could be hidden applications that are using the computer."
"The price point is something they can improve slightly for those who don't have an M 365 E5."
"While the current setup meets our needs, Microsoft can constantly improve customization and adaptability to rapidly evolving cybersecurity threats."
"Having up-to-date documentation and real-time reflections in all portals would be beneficial to keep users informed about any changes. Additionally, the frequent changes in Microsoft's UI and the movement of features between different products in the set pose difficulties."
"The product is very complicated."
"The solution's areas of improvement are the interface and the dependency on on-premises deployment for some components."
"I would like it to have cloud integration."
"Varonis requires more access permissions for its core functions compared to competitors, which can be a concern for companies about data safety."
"Varonis requires more access permissions for its core functions compared to competitors, which can be a concern for companies about data safety."
"The solution's interface is a little complicated with regard to setting up filters and reports."
"I'd like to see automatic updates for this solution. Currently, it's a manual process to update all the keywords"
"We have Microsoft Office 365. I just saw an article today which says that they're actually getting integrated with Microsoft Office 365, which would be a useful feature. For user-based reports, log on activity, and stuff like that, it doesn't seem to really be present like Log360. That could just be my inexperience with it. I've been dealing with it for only about two and a half months."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing charges attached to the product."
"The product has multiple subscription models."
"I rate the product's price a six or seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is expensive, and ten is cheap."
"The pricing of the solution is good."
"The tool is expensive as a stand-alone solution. However, it is not cheap when you purchase it as a bundle."
"The solution can be licensed, but most users would already have it in their Office 365 license."
"They offer two license plans: Microsoft Defender for endpoints and Microsoft Defender for businesses."
"The product is a part of my Microsoft 365 subscription, so there is no additional cost. It is cost-effective."
"Varonis Platform wasn't certainly the cheapest solution."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being the most expensive."
"Licensing is on an annual basis. Maintenance and renewal fees are separate. Varonis Datalert is quite expensive."
"The pricing is good. It neither expensive nor cheap. It is average."
"The platform is expensive. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten."
"It's expensive, kind of, really expensive."
"You could do a subscription, where you pay yearly, or you could purchase it outright. The licensing cost is based on the number of users on the system that you are monitoring."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
14%
Educational Organization
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
It just runs in the background. I don't have to worry about, making sure it's Intelligence. So, you know, this kind of makes it very easy, have to worry about installing. It is easy to use.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
From the telemetry data standpoint, I would prefer Defender data to be more open in future updates.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
We have tried Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence. I have expertise with Microsoft Defender products. I am not familiar with Microsoft Defender for IoT because we did not use that in our environ...
What do you like most about Varonis Platform?
The solution has significantly improved data security and compliance posture by allowing us to track and monitor activities. We can see who accesses data and when files are created and understand w...
What needs improvement with Varonis Platform?
Varonis started as an on-premises solution and is transitioning to cloud. It hasn't fully moved yet, which is an area for improvement. Varonis requires more access permissions for its core function...
What is your primary use case for Varonis Platform?
The primary use case for Varonis Platform is data discovery, specifically for discovering sensitive data in our organization to protect it. We are looking for a solution that can scan our repositor...
 

Also Known As

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

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